Solar power: a miner’s new best friend?

Moving into more positive territory (it is nearly Christmas, after all), and a couple of cleantech stories caught our eye. The first looks at the potential to reduce energy costs are remote mines by installing solar plants instead of traditional diesel generators. The economics make sense – but financial risks have previously deterred investors. Dr Thomas Hillig of THEnergy explains how to mitigate these risks in a comment piece here.

Liquid Light’s technology can turn the greenhouse gas into ethylene glycol, an organic compound used to make polyethylene terephthalate (pet – the stuff in plastic bottles), polyester for clothing and antifreeze or, with a slight modification to the process, acetic acid, which can be used to make PVA glues, or glycolic acid used in skin care products.

Giving out the gongs

Awards ceremonies came thick and fast this week – and one man was at the centre of them all. On Tuesday, Peabody Energy’s Chairman and CEO, Gregory Boyce, was handing out the gongs at the inaugural Advanced Energy for Life Clean Coal Awards, honouring the best environmental performance among US coal-fired power plants. Then, on Thursday, the ubiquitous Mr Boyce was receiving them as he took the CEO of the Year Award and his company the Energy Company of Year Award at this year’s Platts Global Energy Awards in New York.